


Friendship, Impossibilities, and Hearts Healing and Breaking

by Diary



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Awkwardness, Bechdel Test Fail, Break Up, Brief Pepper Potts/Tony Stark - Freeform, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner-centric, Canon Crossover, Canon Divergence - Avengers (2012), Families of Choice, Friendship/Love, POV Bruce Banner, POV Male Character, POV Nonhuman, Past Bruce Banner/Betty Ross - Freeform, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 12:12:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14135808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: AU. 6 times Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, or both influenced Bruce Banner. Complete.





	Friendship, Impossibilities, and Hearts Healing and Breaking

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own The Avengers or Iron Man.

1.

Bruce Banner feels his day rapidly going downhill when an American walks into the market.

Light red hair, she’s naturally tall and even taller in her heels, but any advantage being so tall might give her is underscored by the fact she can’t be older than her mid-twenties and is obviously lost. Pale freckles dot her face, she has an open map wedged underneath her arm, a translation book in her hands, and her unguarded eyes are scanning nearby people.

Two men start to approach her, and he tries to decide if she could possibly be military. He’s heard rumours of these men doing terrible things to white, usually American, tourists, and he’s seen them approaching other tourists before, but so far, each time, it’s been a group of people, and no one in the groups have successfully been lured away.

When he first came, his skin was much darker from repeated sunburns, and given the fact he speaks the language fluently, though with a heavy accent, they hadn’t approached him. He thinks they might have assumed he had family or friends in the area. By the time it was clear this wasn’t the case, he’d already provided his medical services to several people, and the one time they started to approach him, one of the vendors had waved them away.

To this woman’s credit, she subtly adjusts her stance.

To her lack of credit, she begins speaking haltingly with a friendly smile on her face as she looks between the book and them.

“Walk away, Banner,” he mutters. “Walk away.”

If he ever learns to listen to himself-

“Excuse me, miss? I’m guessing you’re American?”

Jumping, she turns with a slightly relieved, slightly more weary look. “Yes, I am. My boss- Hi, I’m Pepper Potts.” She offers her hand.

“Sorry, I’d usually shake your hand, but I’m a doctor, and given where it’s been, that wouldn’t be a good idea.”

The men leave.

He sees her take in the stains on his clothes. “Oh, an American doctor? Are you with the Red Cross?”

“Canadian. No, I’m visiting an English friend.”

“I’m meeting my boss,” she says.

He doesn’t think she’s lying, but he gets the feeling it’ll be a shot in the dark if her boss actually shows up.

“If you see those men, again, don’t engage with them.” He points across the street. “You see that café? I’d advise for you to go wait for your boss inside.”

“Oh, um, thank you?”

Going to talk to the owner of a dog he likes to play with, he watches her stand there for several minutes before, thankfully, going across the street and going inside.

Probably not military, he knows.

He also knows there’s still a chance those men or someone else could hurt her.

Trying to ignore the guilt, he slips out of the market.

…

He’s near another market when he hears loud yelling.

“You told me to meet you at...!”

Looking over, he sees an obviously drunk man practically cringing under Potts’s yelling. “If a nice Canadian doctor hadn’t stepped in, I don’t even want to think about what could have happened!”

She visibly calms herself, and he knows he should slip away, but he finds himself rooted to the spot.

“Tony, I am probably the best PA you will ever be able to find. I will deal with your one-night stands, I will escort you home when you’re naked, I will smile and make excuses for you and try to smooth things over between you and Mister Stane and you and Lieutenant Rhodes, and I will listen to Happy when you won’t. But taking me to a foreign country and expecting me to fend for myself while you antagonise some general-”

The cringing man groans. “Pepper, you don’t understand how much of an asshole Thunderbolt is.”

He freezes, and this is a mistake.

She happens to look over, and her eyes brighten. Waving, she says, “Hello, again!”

Then, she’s dragging the man over. “Mister Stark, this is the doctor I told you about. Thank you for what you did earlier. This is the boss I mentioned, Tony Stark.”

Tony Stark looks as if he couldn’t care less. “Yeah, thanks for protecting- Could we please get some American food? Pepper, I’m sorry. I don’t even know why Ross is here, but if I don’t get this contract with him, Obie will kill me.”

“Maybe, if you’d stop trying to antagonise him, that would speed things up,” is her calmly furious response. Then, she gives him a more genuine smile. “I’d like to thank you. Could we buy you dinner or a drink?”

Stark perks a little at the word ‘drink’, and without missing a beat, she says, “Not you. You’re going to your suite, where I’ve had the minibar emptied and instructed the staff to forward all calls to me, and sleeping this off, Mister Stark.”

“Then, how does that translate to ‘we’?”

“Because, you’re very grateful for this man protecting your assistant and plan to give me your wallet before you go to your room.”

“That’s not necessary,” he says. “Miss Potts, Mister Stark-”

Finally, Stark’s eyes fully land on him. “I don’t know if he’s Canadian or not, but he’s no doctor. He’s a fugitive, Pepper.”

Offence and uneasiness war inside him, but thankfully, sense wins out, and when she looks at Stark to respond, he walks away as quickly as he can without running and ducks into a nearby temple.

…

He’s out of the city before the sun fully sets.

…

2.

In a small outdoor diner table, he rolls his eyes when he feels tiny hands slipping into his pocket, and in the corner of his eye, he sees a kid dashing off.

“Well, there goes my dinner,” he mutters.

Hopefully, the kid and possibly their loved ones will get a good meal or two out of it.

Focusing on the young mother in front of him, he says in her language, “Your baby will be fine as long as you boil water and dilute the milk with it.”

Giving him a dubious look, she nevertheless offers him some crumbled bills.

Shaking his head, he adjusts the baby’s hat. “Just some free advice.”

…

In the hostel, he finds himself staring when he discovers a large number of bills in his pants pocket.

His wallet is missing, and it must have been the would-be pickpocketer, he knows.

He’s sure, if he tried pickpocketing as a kid, he would have been caught in no time flat, but even he wouldn’t be incompetent enough to accidentally leave a significant amount of money already in his possession in the pocket of the person he was attempting to steal from.

He briefly considers trying to find the kid, but even if this weren’t so near an impossibility to be laughable, what exactly would he do? Potentially return stolen money to the thief who’d lost it while in the process of stealing from him? Somehow manage to help so stealing isn’t something the kid needs to turn to?

Putting these thoughts aside, he settles down in front of the hostel’s TV and waits for his turn at the shower.

A news report about Stark Industries comes on, and he tries to chase the sinking feeling away by telling himself there can’t be a connection.

Eventually, ignoring his stomach yelling at him, he leaves, slips the money into a church’s charity basket, and heads out of the town.

…

3.

Someone in a hoodie bumps into him.

When he gets to the factory, he finds his wallet is still inside his jacket pocket, and there’s nothing extra inside.

He works his shifts, and he hears talk about _Iron Man_ and _Tony Stark_.

Instead of joining the conversation, he wonders if Miss Potts is still alive and working for the man who once failed to meet her and is now flying around the world in a suit of gold titanium alloy. He hadn’t had a high opinion of Stark when the man was a merchant of death who was careless of his own people’s safety, but now, he wishes Stane had managed to get Stark removed from his position as CEO before the unfortunate airplane accident.

He half-suspects Stark himself was behind Stane’s death.

…

He’s eating dinner when a little girl climbs through his apartment window.

When he first moved in, he’d found a stray dog, coaxed him inside, and since then, the dog has growled at anyone who comes near the apartment. Now, however, the dog simply snorts and goes back to listening to the radio.

Watching the child, he remarks to the dog, “I guess you’ve never heard of the Red Room.”

He doubts Thunderbolt would ever willingly work with the Russians, but he’s heard rumours other alphabet agencies who may have an interest in him have before.

The child wrinkles her nose at his dinner.

He holds the bowl out.

Shaking her head, she signs, and he knows the local language, but he doesn’t know the sign language version of it. Then, she holds something out.

Warily taking it, he tenses when he realises he’s holding an American military badge. He doesn’t recognise the name or picture, but American soldiers in this city-

Before he can try to gain more information, the tiny child has picked up the fifty-something pound dog and is carrying him to the window. Carefully setting him outside, she climbs out, grabs his collar, and leads him away.

He has no idea what’s going on, but he can worry about a complete mental break after he leaves the city.

…

4.

He’s buying some milk to take back to the sick man’s house when he hears, “Dr Banner. Do you remember me?”

Turning, he sees Tony Stark sticking out like a sore thumb in the Indian marketplace.

Hopefully, the lack of distinctive red hair is a good thing and not an indication Stark has managed to strand his newest CEO in another foreign marketplace. After Stane’s untimely death…

“Tony Stark. You saved my girlfriend from possible human traffickers. Well, she wasn’t my girlfriend at the time, or else, I’d either be dead, or- no, I’d definitely be dead whether she killed me then or I ended up dying from- Look, I’m going to get to the point here. I’m not working with Ross, I am working with SHIELD, and yes, they do have this place surrounded. Can we get a drink?”

The sensible thing to do wouldn’t be this, but he's tired, knows the man he’s trying to save is going to die soon, if he hasn’t already, and he can feel the other guy’s mutual unimpressed opinion of Stark underneath his skin.

“Good for SHIELD. I have a patient. I don’t know what all they’ve told you, but the chances of me being captured are slim. I get angry enough or end up with bullets, tasers, or drugs attacking my body, and a big green monster comes out. I’d really rather he not come out here and now, but if he does, and I yet again manage to get away, you can bet I’m going to make sure SHIELD holding culpability for all these innocent people being massacred ends up on the internet.”

He heads back, and Stark follows.

“Fair enough. But we can get a drink after, right? Or I can buy you a decent meal. I’ve seen pictures of you before we first met, and you used to be a skinny ragmop, didn’t you? Then, you were bordering on skeletal. Figured out that regular, nutrient rich food was good for keeping your heartbeat steady? I mean, sure, why would a guy with five PHDs-”

Stopping, he turns. “Stay.”

Stark leans against the wall.

…

Stark looks at him with wide eyes when he comes out. “You came out the front?”

He shrugs. “The only other way out was through an upper window, and if I broke a leg or arm, the other guy might appear. You and SHIELD got lucky.”

“What about your patient?”

“He’ll die soon. I’d say I hope you and SHIELD are happy about that, but sarcasm and guilt-trips would be lost on you both.”

“What do you have against SHIELD?”

“Aside from the fact they want to cage and experiment on me? Absolutely nothing. I’m sure they’re lovely.”

Stark laughs, and then, a serious expression crosses his face. “They don’t want to do either. Food? Drink?”

“Why are you wasting my time, Mister Stark? If you want me out of the city, let’s go. I’d really rather not risk the other guy coming out here anymore than you and the others would. There’s a chance I’m wrong, but I seriously doubt a drug that would knock me out but not trigger the other guy’s appearance has been discovered or invented.”

Oddly, Stark looks almost sad, but all he says is, “Hey, it’s my time to waste. If you don’t want to eat or drink, don’t, but I’m tired, hungry, and would murder for a decent margarita.”

…

They go to a pub, and Stark orders a margarita and a chicken dish with rice congee. “What’s wrong with your patient?”

He wonders how effective simply ignoring all attempts to engage in oral conversation would be.

“Okay. So, I’m going to tell you what SHIELD’s been dealing with. Sure you don’t want something? I’ll buy.”

Unfazed by his strategy of not responding, Stark continues, “I brought notes and videos to prove what I’m about to tell you.”

…

“Questions, comments, concerns?” Waving the bartender over, Stark orders saat and his (Bruce’s) preferred tea.

“When and how do we leave?”

Stark frowns. “Really?”

“I believe you’re telling the truth about this Loki and his tesseract. If this agent he has brainwashed is any good, that only ups his threat level. Whatever my reservations about you and SHIELD, if I can help save the world, I’m there.”

“Believe it or not, it wasn’t actually my fault Pepper got lost that day. That’s all down to our mutual friend Ross. He told her to go to one place and told me he’d sent her to another. But,” Stark peers closely at him, “that’s not what your main reservation about me is. Tell me, is it the weapons manufacturing or my thoughtless, tactless playboy ways? Which, just to be clear, yes, I can still be thoughtless and tactless, and there’s a chance I might end up dancing naked in public again, but I’m very committed to Pepper.”

Setting his hands on the counter, Stark directs the bartender to put the saat and tea in front of him.

He manages not to roll his eyes. If Stark wants to try drugging him, he can find a way to do it without his palms ever leaving the counter.

“I don’t trust Black Widow, and I’m sceptical how useful Captain America might truly be. I’ve dealt with her in the past, and she’s manipulative in ways that go past her job. He’s more-or-less a literal transplant from the 40s that my dad was always too busy trying to find instead of being a dad to me. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the way you loose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster, but I have a better chance of not getting smashed by him if there’s some level of trust between me and you.”

“No, you don’t.”

Stark’s hands twitch but stay. “I’ve been doing some reading. Watching some videos. The number of civilian causalities wouldn’t be so low if he truly wanted to kill everyone and everything in his path. And sorry if this is a sore topic, but I know about Betty Ross. She must have taken after her mother in looks. As smart as she is pretty. You protected her. He protected her.”

He’s extremely tempted to take a drink of the tea. “I was in love with her. How that stopped him, I don’t know for sure, but the chances of me ever liking you, Mister Stark, are extremely slim. The chances of me trusting you are even smaller. And me ever falling in love with you is, thankfully, an impossibility.”

Making a small sound, Stark’s fingers start tracing designs. “I have no problem believing that. But I’m really curious what it is you hold against me so much. It’s not just SHIELD.”

He’s not sure why he does, but he finds himself asking, “What really happened to Obadiah Stane, Mister Stark?”

Stark tenses, and looking over, he scoffs. “You think I killed him.”

Before he can respond, Stark says, “You’re right. Pepper helped. When I came back from Afghanistan, I replaced the reactor I had with a different one. Instead of destroying or throwing it away like I told her, she left it in my lab in a glass case. ‘Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart.’”

“He had access to every area of my house but my lab. I didn’t have Jarvis, my AI system, set up to tell me when he came in. Or to scan him for weapons. Why would I? He was my dad’s best friend, and he brought me pizza when he had bad news. So, he let himself in, used the weapon I’d designed to cause short-term paralysis on me, and pulled my reactor out. He told me he was going to kill Pepper.”

The fingers are practically dancing. “I got down to the lab, managed to get the other reactor, and then, with the help of SHIELD and Pepper, we all managed to stop him before he could use a suit he’d designed to do who knows what. Mostly me and her. It turns out, he’d been selling weapons to terrorists on the side and had made a deal to, uh, they were supposed to kill me. But hey, you can’t trust terrorists to carry out an assassination, do it yourself, right?”

“Okay." When Stark looks over, he takes a bite of the saat and a drink of the tea. “We should leave soon.”

“What about your patient?”

…

5.

Tony finds a non-damaged hotel for all the Avengers to temporarily crash in.

He’s finishing breakfast in the lobby when Pepper comes over. “Full disclosure, I don’t know what more than half of this stuff is, but Tony said that ordering it would tempt you to stay.” She hands him a list.

He reads. “Please, tell me you haven’t already-”

“I have.”

Scoffing, he looks up, and she practically beams. “You’re more dangerous than you seem, Miss Potts."

“Pepper,” she corrects. “You haven’t noticed that’s exactly Tony’s favourite type of person?”

“Fair point. Well, on the positive side, I can give you great advice on how and who to donate all this to.”

Coming in, Tony says, “Let’s go before a walk before you and Pep talk about donations.” He shares a kiss with her. “We’ll be back soon.”

“If I’m not, thank you, Pepper,” he says. “Take care of yourself.”

She kisses his cheek. “You, too. Thank you for everything.”

…

On a park bench, Tony says, "You can do more here than you can out in the wild, doc. I know you’re probably going to think this is overdramatic and possibly pretentious, but I’m literally offering you the world. Except, maybe not. I’ve always hated it when people misused the word ‘literally’, and now, here I am-"

Tony groans. "Look, you’re not a fugitive, and I’m offering you no-strings attached funding. You don’t work for me, SHIELD, the military, or anyone else. You don’t worry about profit. You do deal with the interns, but if that turns out to be incredibly stressful, I can move them and get someone else to play supervisor. And you use your brains to find and develop things you think will help the world. You almost had your sixth PHD before you went on the run. You can get it and even more.”

He watches a jogging woman with a toddler attached to her in a harness. He tries not to think of Betty. The urge to look her up has been continually thrumming through him, but he figures she’s already learned about his return along with the rest of the world finding out about him, and if she wants to, she’ll contact him.

“Why do you assume I’m philanthropic? I helped people while I was on the run when I could do it without risk to myself, partly, because, I’m not heartless, but I usually got some sort of payment, even if it wasn’t money, out of it. Maybe I want to go somewhere that doesn’t have the same strident laws the US does and get rich.”

“In which case, name your price,” Tony says. “All the credit for your work will be properly attributed, and you’ll hold control over all your patents. You can get rich and famous for things other than Hulk. But everyone is going to know that my funding played a part in such innovations coming to fruition, and that’ll be good for me and Pepper.”

“Sorry, Tony. I appreciate what you’ve done for me, but- I hope you and Pepper have a good life. Give my best to the others.”

“You’re wrong about Hulk.”

“In what regard?”

Tony makes a small sound. “Here’s the thing, big guy: I don’t know where I heard this before, but it’s always stuck with me. Angry gets shit done. In some ways, I can’t, but in other ways, I can understand exactly why you’re so angry. Part of it is you know, no matter what you do, you’re never going to make a big enough difference. No matter how many lives you save, no matter how much poverty you wipe out, how many diseases you cure or eradicate, there’s still going to be sickness and death and just plain evil in this world.”

He had been scared, uneasy, and offended when Tony had effortlessly deduced his fugitive status with a look, but now, he finds himself wondering if he might have finally come across a person who can truly understand.

In some ways, this scares him more than their first meeting did.

“Hulk is all that helpless anger that you can’t banish with your brain taking a physical approach. Smashing things. If you can’t save everyone, why not destroy threats? I really can’t blame him. But, um, you always will, won’t you?”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “You’re right. I’m angry largely because of how relatively helpless I am in the grand scheme of things. Nice to have someone understand, and I mean that sincerely. Maybe, if you right now had met me as a kid or young adult, you could have stopped me from ruining my life. But-”

“The point is, you think your life is permanently ruined. It doesn’t have to be. I’m offering you a chance to build a new one. It may not have Betty Ross in it, but you can be happy, and you can do things you’ve always wanted to do. You have friends, now, big guy. There’s nothing to stop you from creating a family.”

“I’m always going to be a target, Tony. You and SHIELD have gotten Ross to step down for now. But you find the Hulk- the other guy so interesting. Someday, they might deem it necessary to do further research. To try weaponisation. Please, don’t take this personally. You’re a great guy. It’s just, me and the life you’re trying to sell became incompatible the moment the other guy appeared.”

“Actually, I think I do take offence," Tony replies. "Second, again, you’re wrong. Back to the first part- why? I know you didn’t have the greatest opinion of me in the past. Unintentionally putting Pepper in danger, thinking I was legitimately sociopathic or psychopathic and killed Obie for that reason, I’m guessing you didn’t agree with Stark weapons manufacturing. But I’m one of the good guys, now.”

“You’re a scientist, Tony, same as me. In some ways, I was wrong about you, and in some ways, you’ve matured, but you’ve always been a good guy. The truth is I’m more worried about me, about the other guy, becoming such a threat that Ross’s desire to see me imprisoned and studied will become justified.”

“I have to believe people can change,” Tony quietly says. “I know who I was, and I know who I want to be. I’m always going to have a streak of cruelty, but I can channel it and think very carefully before unleashing it. My empathy isn’t exactly as fine-tuned as it should be, but I’m working on that, too. There are days I’d like to fire my therapist, or throw her car into the river, but Pepper likes her, and I’d like to eventually be able to sleep without nightmares or having to take pills or chug down copious amounts of alcohol to avoid those nightmares.”

He stifles a laugh. It wouldn’t be funny if Tony actually did it, but the mental image of Iron Man depositing a car into a river- “Why her car?”

“She doesn’t take my pointing out I could find a way to have her disbarred seriously. And,” Tony lets out a slightly pained sound, “it’s a boxy, 1989 gas guzzler with literal pinstripes across it. There are worse ways to attack the environment, fine, and Pepper literally brought up a photo containing nothing but all my cars with stripes on them when I mentioned this, but her claims of safety have been disproven by numerous studies. It’s better to have a car that’s compact instead of bulky. I’ve proven it with-”

“Tony, why do I get the feeling the real issue here is that you can’t just buy or give your therapist a car you consider safer?”

“That’s a minor issue,” Tony flatly responds. “The real issue is I don’t want you to disappear into the wild. You can help people, Bruce. And I can help you. I’m probably going to sound like an asshole here, and I really wish I didn’t in this instance. Those people you’ve helped along the way, they were important. All those people who could still use a kind, educated doctor but are unlikely to ever get that are important. They deserve the help."

"All that doesn’t change the fact you can do more good here than out there. We could change the world for the better in permanent ways, ways that reach those people far better than you alone could ever do.”

He represses a sigh. “Tony, I try not to get into debates about whether people can change. If people want to believe that, it’s usually not my place to dissuade them. Thing is, my mother sincerely believed that. I’m always going to wonder if she still did as she lay dying by my father’s hand.”

He feels Tony tense beside him.

“The other guy is dangerous. He always will be, and that means I always will be. Want me to sound like a bigger asshole? If he comes out in some small village, those people’s blood will be on my hands, but hopefully, I can come back before he gets to the next one. Some of those villages are smaller than the average American small town. Less people.”

“So, the plan is to eventually end up in some mountain? Some cave? Then, what?”

“Maybe, someday, I can get rid of him permanently. But yes, if that’s where I need to end up, I will.”

“Is that your price then?”

“What?” He looks over.

Tony slumps down. “Hulk needs someone in his corner. He deserves that. Not just because he saved me. He- But you’re never going to see him as anything but a monster who destroyed your life, and everyone else only sees him as either a monster or a potentially useful weapon.”

Feeling a pang, he thinks of Betty.

“And if we’re going to quantify human life, do risk assessment, hammer out the pros and cons, then, you’re more valuable, big guy. So, uh, anything that puts your life in danger, you’re damn right, I’m pulling the plug on it. I’d stoop to bringing in Rhodey, if I had to. Otherwise, though, if you want to find a way to destroy him, go for it. If you do, there’s a chance Blonsky’s Abomination and all the ones like them won’t ever be a problem ever again.”

He should go, but- he finds himself believing Tony Stark.

Running his hands through his hair, he says, “I need a haircut.”

Giving him a half-puzzled, half-hopeful look, Tony replies, “That’s easy enough to take care of.”

…

6.

As he’s heading down to the kitchen, he comes across Pepper in the hallway.

She gives him an awkward smile, and he realises she was probably trying to get in and out of the tower without running into anyone.

“Tony’s sleeping,” he offers. “Anything I can do to help you?”

Exhaling, she shakes her head. “How’s he doing?”

The truth is, Tony’s been up literally all week and is only sleeping, because, he forced a sedative down him.

“He’s been a little more manic than usual, but given a some time-”

Tony may or may not stop insisting the break is only temporary.

Maybe, for Tony’s sake, it really will be.

“Thank you,” she says, and the way she says it-

“I don’t see a bad guy in this, Pepper. I’m sorry both of you are hurting.”

Her shoulders slump, and sniffing, she presses at her eyes. “That’s kind of you. I can’t help but feel like one, sometimes.”

“I’m going to get something to eat. Why don’t you join me? If you’re not hungry, you can, at least, have some coffee.”

She nods.

…

She sips her coffee, and using his phone, he directs one of the robots to quietly come pour the rest of the pot out. She hasn’t been as bad as Tony, but he can see she’s sleep-deprived, too.

“I didn’t realise how strong my feelings had gotten until he disappeared in Afghanistan. Then- okay, I was in love with my playboy, man-child boss and had been for who knows how long. I had to believe he’d come back, be okay, and I could just slowly find a replacement, find a new job, and resign.”

Chuckling, she shakes her head. “I should have known better. He became Iron Man, we were both in a place to be honest about our feelings and take a chance, and for a little while, I was never happier.”

“And now- the reason for the break-up is that you aren’t anymore?”

Rubbing her temples, she shakes her head. “I’m so proud of Tony, and I still love him more than anyone besides my mother. Even when I was first hired, I saw the potential, and I hoped he’d mature someday and realise it. And he has, but- He’s tried several times to retire from being Iron Man. He just can’t.”

Wiping at her eyes, she takes a steadying breath.

He squeezes her hand.

She gives him a watery smile. “I know how much good he’s doing. There are times I ask myself why I couldn’t be happy. He’s still Tony, he’s still the kind, obnoxious man who loves and challenges me, in so many ways, he’s everything I want. He was faithful, and he tried so hard to make our relationship work. But I did, too.”

“The way I saw him maturing and the way he has is different. I wanted safety and stability, him helping the world by working with charities and having breakthroughs in his lab, not going up against aliens and rogue computer programs. I just don’t want this. He can’t change, and at this point, even if he could, I’d be afraid he’d resent me for it.”

“Then, you did the best thing for both of you,” he quietly says. “It sounds as if you were already starting to resent him. I- I wish this didn’t hurt Tony so much, Pepper. But you’re always going to be one of the most important people in the world to him. As long as you’re safe and happy, it’ll take him time, but he can learn to be okay with this.”

“I’ll try to make sure he doesn’t do anything too crazy. Right now, focus on yourself. Try to be happy. Maybe, when things are better for both of you, you can work on establishing whatever relationship is best for the two of you.”

“Thank you, Bruce.”

“As much as I care about him, I care about you, too, Pepper.”

She nods. “It’s the same for me.” Leaning over, she kisses his cheek. “Call me if you need anything.”

…

Sitting on the floor, Tony is surrounded by parts.

He sits down beside him. “Here.” He sets his cup, another cup, and a plate of fruits down in front of Tony.

“Thanks, big guy.”

Giving him a sympathetic smile, he eats some of the blueberries.

Sighing, Tony starts eating. “It’s not just a break, is it?”

“I don’t know. Something could change and bring you and her back together. If it doesn’t, though- Tony, as much as I like Pepper, you’re going to need to start working on getting over her eventually. I know I used to think I never could imagine myself with anyone but Betty, and the honest truth is, even now, it sometimes hurts, thinking of her and what we could have had, but it’s not holding me back from fully living my life anymore.”

Patting him, Tony lets out a small, painful sound. “I used to say I’d do anything for her. And I meant it. I thought I did. I- Being an Avenger, even when I screw up, trying to help the world, all that is more important. So, yeah, maybe this is for the best, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t _hurt_."

“I know, and I’m sorry. I wish I could do something more to help.”

“Sometimes, things are just impossible,” Tony mutters.

Remembering sitting in an Indian pub years ago, he wraps an arm around Tony. “Sometimes, they are. But one of the things I’ve learned since meeting you is that labelling something as an impossibility is usually a bad idea. Whatever I can do to help make it hurt a little less, I will, alright?”

Suddenly, both of Tony’s arms are around him. “Thanks, Bruce.”

Carefully putting a hand on the back of Tony’s head, he waits.

When Tony pulls back, he gives a heartbreakingly vulnerable look. “Hey, uh, I was thinking. The Australian government has given permission to try out our new mosquito repellent idea. Up for a trip?”

“Sounds good,” he answers.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Notes: As of Thor Ragnarok, Bruce canonically has 7 PHDs. However, it's possible he got some of them post-Avengers (2012). Therefore, him having 5 when he and Tony talk isn't currently a direct deviation from canon.


End file.
